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There Is No Fun In Islam* Alert: more on this story. "Don't let them eat cake, Saudi cleric says," by Donna Abu-nasr for Associated Press, September 4 (thanks to all who sent this in):
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – When Hala al-Masaad invited her girlfriends over to celebrate her 18th birthday with cake and juice, the high school student was stepping into an unusual public debate. Is celebrating birthdays un-Islamic?Saudi Arabia's most senior Muslim cleric recently denounced birthday parties as an unwanted foreign influence, but another prominent cleric declared they were OK.
That has left al-Masaad with mixed feelings about her low-key celebration last month. She loves birthday parties, she says, because they make her feel that she has "moved from one stage of life to another."
"But I sometimes feel I'm doing something haram," she said sheepishly, using the Arabic word for banned.
The Saudi ban on birthdays is in line with the strict interpretation of Islam followed by the conservative Wahhabi sect adhered to in the kingdom. All Christian and even most Muslim feasts are also prohibited because they are considered alien customs the Saudi clerics don't sanction.
Only the Muslim feasts of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, which concludes the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, are permitted.
Elsewhere in the Muslim world, including in Egypt, Dubai, Lebanon and Iran, people routinely celebrate birthdays, especially for children. Among middle class and affluent families, parties can be elaborate, with cakes, toys, clowns, ponies and many presents. In Egypt, Prophet Muhammad's birthday is celebrated by handing out special sweets — in the shape of a doll for girls and a horse for boys.
Even in Saudi Arabia, it's not hard to find Saudis who celebrate birthdays or stores that cater to putting on parties, despite the ban.
What makes the latest controversy notable is that it started when a prominent cleric, Salman al-Audah, said on a popular satellite TV program last month that it was OK to mark birthdays and wedding anniversaries with parties as long as the Arabic word that describes the events — "eid," meaning feast — is not used.
That prompted a quick denunciation by Saudi Arabia's grand mufti and top religious authority, Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al Sheik, who said such celebrations have no place in Islam and gave a list of foreign customs he suggested were unacceptable.
"Christians have Mother's Day, an eid for trees, and an eid for every occasion," said Al Sheik, who also heads the Presidency for Scientific Research and Religious Edicts, speaking to Al-Madina newspaper. "And on every birthday, candles are lit and food is given out."
There is no question that the television remarks by al-Audah, who is not employed by the country's religious establishment, contradicted several fatwas, or religious edicts, issued by senior Saudi clerics over the years.
One such ruling, by the previous mufti, Sheik Abdul-Aziz bin Baz, said Muslims should not emulate the West by celebrating birthdays — even that of the Prophet Muhammed, which is marked in most other Middle Eastern countries as a holiday.
"It's not permissible to take part in them," he said. "Birthday parties are an innovation ... and people are in no need of innovations."...
*The Ayatollah Khomeini said that.
Posted by Robert at September 5, 2008 7:21 AM
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Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday S Perry
Happy birthday to me
Is everyone having fun yet?!?!?!?!?! :-)
Posted by: S Perry![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 5, 2008 7:28 AM
Birthday parties are an innovation ... and people are in no need of innovations."
Iran is not Wahhabi, and they need innovations, such as nukes ;-)
[I know it's about social customs, not technology, but nevertheless...]
If a 7th century pirate,misogynist and a child molester is a perfect man, then, really, anything not ultra-old is a deviation from that "ideal".
Posted by: johnsawyer at September 5, 2008 8:19 AM
Another reason to become a Muslim! Think of all the money you will say on wrapping paper, cards and ribbons! Allah is merciful and thrifty!
Posted by: tanstaafl at September 5, 2008 8:22 AM
"people are in no need of innovations."
.. as this could lead to more innovation.
Posted by: FreeSpeech at September 5, 2008 8:29 AM
Hmmm, so all those parades organised Mosques and Islamic Centres around the UK (and I assume other countries) every year to celebrate Mohammed's birthday are haram,them. Mohammed's birthday: OK, everyone elses: forbidden. With such hypocrisy no wonder so many Muslims misunderstand their religion.
Posted by: Tziona at September 5, 2008 9:15 AM
I certainly agree that celebrating Mohammed's birthday is sinful. (About the first and last time I will agree with a Muslim cleric).
Posted by: Jerry M at September 5, 2008 10:01 AM
I'm assuming that Hala's girlfriends are all about her age, and that they attended with the permission of their husbands and that each brought her 2 or 3 children with her.
Posted by: ebonystone at September 5, 2008 12:15 PM
Moslems are such spoil sports. All in the name of Allah, of course.
Well, maybe some Americans will wake up when elementary schools ban birthday parties so as not to offend the Moslem students.
Posted by: Always On Watch at September 5, 2008 5:54 PM
Some bearded wonder claims that "people are in no need of innovations" eh?
Yes the Golden Age of islam was indeed in reality the dimming of European innovation.
This is why if islam does in fact dominate the world then the only permitted technology will be flint knapping. This will only be allowed to make stoning adulterers more effective.
It is no accident that the poorest province in China is the only islamic one. Guess what, the muslims there are stirring up trouble.
Posted by: Stephen Gash SIOE England at September 5, 2008 7:01 PM
The paranoid schizophrenic Arab's birthday was institutionalized as a national holiday India in 1990. The dhimmi PM made the announcement at the Independence Day function.
Posted by: karyakarta92 at September 5, 2008 10:29 PM
Therefore un-birthdays ARE islamic! A very happy un-birthday to me. To me. A very happy un-birthday to you. To you...Clean plate! Clean plate! Move down....etc.
nabi ZK (pbum)
Posted by: zonie kafir at September 6, 2008 1:31 AM
Yes, I saw this article. In the San Francisco Chronicle, the story was accompanied by a picture of a woman draped head-to-toe in sepulchral black, standing all alone in a small shop decked out in cheery birthday balloons (including a large mylar ballon featuring Barney the dinosaur wishing a "Happy Birthday!" in English), boxes of candy and wrapping paper. Here's my favorite quote:
[this follows a long list of holidays--Muslim and otherwise--banned in Saudi Arabia]
"Still, some Saudis welcomed a loosening of the prohibition. [I think the writer means, "would welcome"]
"'Allowing such celebrations can be an element that can strengthen ties among people and contribute to an increase in the happy occasions in our society,' wrote Ibrahim Ba-Dawood in a column in Al-Eqtisadah newspaper."
...........................
Celebrations like birthdays might "contribute to an increase in the happy occasions in our society"--can't have that! Doesn't Ba-Dawood know there is no fun in Islam?
at September 6, 2008 11:39 PM
So, does this mean that by not having birthdays, they were not born? If they were not born, they're not here, and we don't have to worry about "offending" these people anymore. You can't offend people who do not exist. And people who do not exist can't complain about rights.
Posted by: samhein at September 7, 2008 6:36 PM
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